Hope you find him!

Actually Jeff, your mistaken, they sometimes will. Deer hit with an arrow have been known to jump, stand there and start feeding again never knowing what happened until they fall over. They may stop and collect themselves wondering what happened. I hit a buck, liver through the guts many years ago, he jumped...walked up a hill for about 30 yards and stood there for quite a while finally bedding down not 40 yards from me. I glassed him until it was dark and I finally saw him stand up and wonder off...total time, probably 30 minutes....I let him go overnight and found him the next morning a couple hundred yards away.

They will stop and look back and stand there when hit with a bow.

I agree Rob. I've shot deer and they don't even jump. They just go back to eating for about a minute and then their world goes dark.

I'm not advocating a bad shot but a lost deer will never go to waste. The critters in the forest thank you everyday for that shot. Always do your best to take a good shot. Track it down as much as possible. I'll bring my dog back out. If it's illegal in your area, then go for a long stroll with your dog.

I wish you luck in recovery.

I tend to agree that what you heard was not a hit ,and an arrow has way's of burying itself under leaves and dirt to never be found .But I've also never seen a deer stop to see what just hit him when he was actually hit ,but I have seen deer stop to look with a close miss.
I know you'd like to think that you hit him ,but if I were you I'd just admit that it was a miss .And you should be glad it was a miss .

nubo

A gut shot deer will stop for 5 minutes if no vitals are hit,Unfortunately in my early years I have seen this happen.BUT there will usually be a puddle of blood where he stopped.


The thud was either the guts exploding or you hit a tree.Go back and check to see if the arrow is stuck in a tree,even look up in a tree,you never know if you hit a limb and it deflected at the last second.

I dont think that a hit deer with an arrow still in it would stop for five minutes.

Deer will stop, and sometimes VERY quickly after being shot. I had a gut shot buck lay down after 2 hops. Laid there for 45 minutes before getting up and staggering away. I had another buck drilled hard with the arrow buried in the far shoulder, run 60 yds and I watched him lay down, until it got dark. WHen dealing with hit deer....there are NO absolutes in reactions.

Welcome to the board. All the advice you need would be found here: http://forum.hunting.net/asppg/tm.asp?m=355101

Went back to the same stand last evening and looked in all the trees and limbs. Nothing. Rechecked the spot where he was standing and kicked leaves around but didn't find my arrow. Had a spike and a doe come down the same trail and two racoons. Didn't see any vultures anywhere along the ridge. Raining again today so I won't go looking this evening. We did have a dog with us Sunday, not a hound but a mastiff, it didn't find anything either. I'll look some more Saturday, but it's supposed to rain the rest of the week.

Anyone who does not think a deer will stop after being hit, has not shot many deer. Especially when hit in the liver or gut they will often stop. It rarely happens but I have seen them stop with the arrow sticking out both sides. I believe this to be an exception, but as I said it can happen.

I learned a hard lesson one time. I was hunting in a thick deep hollow on a particularly dark day. There was legal time left but when a rutting buck came following a doe, making out detail (hair, muscle crease, etc.) on the buck was difficult. In the excitement of the moment my emotions shorted out what little reasoning I might possess. He was only a short twenty five yards away (measured) and in the open, I thought I could easily make the shot. NOT! I hit him to far back. I eventually found him but lost the meat, lesson learned.

I am not an officer on the ethics police squad so I say this with no malice, just for what its worth. If you can't see color, you can't see detail, without detail it is very difficult to focus on a point of impact or a "spot" if you will. Certainly a person can and will be successful on making the occasion kill under these conditions. However eventually the laws of chance and circumstance will catch up to you and the result will be a bad hit. I learned my lesson and have not repeated that careless error. If my mistake will help someone else avoid one, then all of my "hot air" (and poor judgement) will not have been in vain. [&:]

Good luck.